Cloud management of connectivity for edge networking devices

ABSTRACT

Certain edge networking devices such as application gateways may report status to a cloud-based threat management platform using a persistent network connection between the gateway and the cloud platform. Where a cloud computing platform for an edge networking device or the treat management platform imposes periodic timeouts, the threat management platform may monitor connects and disconnects for edge devices and asynchronously evaluate connection status of edge devices independently of a heartbeat or other signal through the persistent connection in order to distinguish periodic timeouts imposed by the cloud computing platform from networking devices that are compromised or malfunctioning.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Indian Provisional PatentApplication No. 202111007638 filed on Feb. 23, 2021 and titled “NetworkSecurity for Zero Trust Network Environments,” where the entire contentof the foregoing application is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to network security, and morespecifically to network security in cloud-based and zero trust networkenvironments.

BACKGROUND

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) environments assume that there is notrusted network and no implicit trust applied to users and devicestrying to access enterprise resources such as applications, services,and data. Instead, a typical ZTNA solution provide a software-definedperimeter for enterprise resources by separately authenticating eachendpoint to each requested resource. This approach can significantlyreduce security risks by limiting or preventing lateral movementthroughout an enterprise network by a compromised device. However, thereremains a need for improved centralized threat management forenterprises employing ZTNA solutions.

SUMMARY

Certain edge networking devices such as application gateways may reportstatus to a cloud-based threat management platform using a persistentnetwork connection between the gateway and the cloud platform. Where acloud computing platform for an edge networking device or the treatmanagement platform imposes periodic timeouts, the threat managementplatform may monitor connects and disconnects for edge devices andasynchronously evaluate connection status of edge devices independentlyof a heartbeat or other signal through the persistent connection inorder to distinguish periodic timeouts imposed by the cloud computingplatform from networking devices that are compromised or malfunctioning.

In one aspect, a computer program product disclosed herein may includecomputer executable code embodied in a non-transitory computer readablemedium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performsthe steps of: detecting a connection of an application gateway for oneor more applications associated with an enterprise network to a threatmanagement facility for the enterprise network by receiving anotification of the connection from a cloud computing platform thathosts the threat management facility; storing connection information forthe connection of the application gateway in a connect data tableassociated with the threat management facility, the connectioninformation including a time stamp for a time of creation of theconnection; detecting a disconnection of the application gateway fromthe threat management facility; storing disconnection information forthe disconnection of the application gateway in a disconnect data tableassociated with the threat management facility, the disconnectioninformation including a second time stamp for a second time of thedisconnection; asynchronously analyzing the connection and disconnectionto determine if the disconnection occurred according to a connectionreset rule for the cloud computing platform hosting the threatmanagement facility by applying one or more rules to the connectioninformation stored in the connect data table and the disconnectioninformation stored in the disconnect data table; if the disconnectionoccurred according to the connection reset rule for the cloud computingplatform, waiting for the connection to reset; and, if the disconnectiondid not occur according to the connection reset rule for the cloudcomputing platform, remediating the application gateway.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features.Remediating the application gateway may include restarting theapplication gateway. If the disconnection is followed by a reconnectionwhile waiting for the connection to reset, the computer program productmay include code that performs the step of removing the disconnectioninformation from the disconnect data table.

In one aspect, a system disclosed herein may include: an endpoint in azero trust network access environment; a zero trust application for theendpoint; a gateway for connecting the endpoint to access the zero trustapplication, the gateway hosted on a first cloud computing platform; anidentity provider supporting authentication of the endpoint for use ofthe zero trust application; and a threat management facility for anenterprise network. The threat management facility may be hosted on asecond cloud computing platform independent from the first cloudcomputing platform and the threat management facility may include aprocessor and memory storing computer executable instructions thatconfigure the threat management facility to perform the steps of:detecting a connection of the gateway to the threat management facility;storing connection information for the connection of the gateway in adata store associated with the threat management facility; detecting adisconnection of the gateway; storing disconnection information for thedisconnection of the gateway in the data store associated with thethreat management facility; asynchronously analyzing the disconnectionto determine if the disconnection occurred according to a connectionreset rule for the second cloud computing platform hosting the threatmanagement facility by applying one or more rules to the connectioninformation and the disconnection information stored in the data store;if the disconnection occurred according to the connection reset rule forthe second cloud computing platform, waiting for the connection toreset; and, if the disconnection did not occur according to theconnection reset rule for the second cloud computing platform,remediating the gateway.

In one aspect, a method disclosed herein may include: detecting aconnection of an edge networking device to a threat management facilityhosted for an enterprise network on a cloud computing platform; storingconnection information for the connection of the edge networking devicein a memory associated with the threat management facility; detecting adisconnection of the edge networking device; storing disconnectioninformation for the disconnection of the edge networking device in thememory associated with the threat management facility; asynchronouslyanalyzing the disconnection to determine if the disconnection occurredaccording to a connection reset rule for the cloud computing platformhosting the threat management facility by applying one or more rules tothe connection information and the disconnection information stored inthe memory; if the disconnection occurred according to the connectionreset rule for the cloud computing platform, waiting for the connectionto reset; and, if the disconnection did not occur according to theconnection reset rule for the cloud computing platform, remediating theedge networking device.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Theedge networking device may be hosted on a second cloud computingplatform independent of the cloud computing platform hosting the threatmanagement facility. The edge networking device may be hosted in anon-premises data center for the enterprise network. The edge networkingdevice may include an application gateway for one or more applicationsassociated with the enterprise network. The threat management facilitymay manage a security policy for use of the one or more applications byusers associated with the enterprise network. The edge networking devicemay include a firewall for the enterprise network. The connectioninformation may include a time stamp for a time of creation of theconnection. Detecting the connection may include receiving an eventnotification relating to the connection from the cloud computingplatform. The disconnection information may include a time stamp for atime of disconnection by the edge networking device. Detecting thedisconnection may include receiving an event notification relating tothe disconnection from the cloud computing platform. If thedisconnection is followed by a second connection of the edge networkingdevice, the method may include removing the disconnection informationfrom the memory. The connection reset rule may specify a maximumduration for the connection. The cloud computing platform may reset theconnection in less than one second. The threat management facility mayreset the connection prior to a maximum duration for the connectionspecified by the cloud computing platform. Remediating the edgenetworking device may include relaunching the edge networking device.Remediating the edge networking device may include repairing a networkissue associated with connectivity of the edge networking device.Remediating the edge networking device may include checking the edgenetworking device for malware.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of thedevices, systems, and methods described herein will be apparent from thefollowing description of particular embodiments thereof, as illustratedin the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not necessarily to scale,emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of thedevices, systems, and methods described herein.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a threat management system.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a threat management system.

FIG. 3 shows a system for enterprise network threat detection.

FIG. 4 illustrates a threat management system.

FIG. 5 shows a threat management facility in a zero trust network accessenvironment.

FIG. 6 shows a method for cloud management of connectivity for edgenetworking devices.

FIG. 7 shows a method for managing a gateway in a zero trustenvironment.

FIG. 8 shows an administrative console for adding an application gatewayfor an enterprise network.

DESCRIPTION

Embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. The foregoing may, however, be embodied in many different formsand should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodimentsset forth herein.

All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety. References to items in the singular should be understoodto include items in the plural, and vice versa, unless explicitly statedotherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intendedto express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations ofconjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwisestated or clear from the context. Thus, the term “or” should generallybe understood to mean “and/or” and so forth.

Recitation of ranges of values herein are not intended to be limiting,referring instead individually to any and all values falling within therange, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value withinsuch a range is incorporated into the specification as if it wereindividually recited herein. The words “about,” “approximately” or thelike, when accompanying a numerical value, are to be construed asindicating a deviation as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skillin the art to operate satisfactorily for an intended purpose. Similarly,words of approximation such as “approximately” or “substantially” whenused in reference to physical characteristics, should be understood tocontemplate a range of deviations that would be appreciated by one ofordinary skill in the art to operate satisfactorily for a correspondinguse, function, purpose, or the like. Ranges of values and/or numericvalues are provided herein as examples only, and do not constitute alimitation on the scope of the described embodiments. Where ranges ofvalues are provided, they are also intended to include each value withinthe range as if set forth individually, unless expressly stated to thecontrary. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language(“e.g.,” “such as,” or the like) provided herein, is intended merely tobetter illuminate the embodiments and does not pose a limitation on thescope of the embodiments. No language in the specification should beconstrued as indicating any unclaimed element as essential to thepractice of the embodiments.

In the following description, it is understood that terms such as“first,” “second,” “top,” “bottom,” “up,” “down,” and the like, arewords of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

It should also be understood that endpoints, devices, compute instances,or the like that are referred to as “within” an enterprise network mayalso be “associated with” the enterprise network, e.g., where suchassets are outside an enterprise gateway but nonetheless managed by orin communication with a threat management facility or other centralizedsecurity platform for the enterprise network. Thus, any descriptionreferring to an asset within the enterprise network should be understoodto contemplate a similar asset associated with the enterprise networkregardless of location in a network environment unless a differentmeaning is explicitly provided or otherwise clear from the context.

As described herein, a threat management system may use a Sensor,Events, Analytics, and Response (SEAR) approach to protect enterprisesagainst cybersecurity threats.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a threat management system 101providing protection against a plurality of threats, such as malware,viruses, spyware, cryptoware, adware, Trojans, spam, intrusion, policyabuse, improper configuration, vulnerabilities, improper access,uncontrolled access, and more. A threat management facility 100 maycommunicate with, coordinate, and control operation of securityfunctionality at different control points, layers, and levels within thesystem 101. A number of capabilities may be provided by a threatmanagement facility 100, with an overall goal to intelligently use thebreadth and depth of information that is available about the operationand activity of compute instances and networks as well as a variety ofavailable controls. Another overall goal is to provide protection neededby an organization that is dynamic and able to adapt to changes incompute instances and new threats. In embodiments, the threat managementfacility 100 may provide protection from a variety of threats to avariety of compute instances in a variety of locations and networkconfigurations.

Just as one example, users of the threat management facility 100 maydefine and enforce policies that control access to and use of computeinstances, networks and data. Administrators may update policies such asby designating authorized users and conditions for use and access. Thethreat management facility 100 may update and enforce those policies atvarious levels of control that are available, such as by directingcompute instances to control the network traffic that is allowed totraverse firewalls and wireless access points, applications, and dataavailable from servers, applications and data permitted to be accessedby endpoints, and network resources and data permitted to be run andused by endpoints. The threat management facility 100 may provide manydifferent services, and policy management may be offered as one of theservices.

Turning to a description of certain capabilities and components of thethreat management system 101, an exemplary enterprise facility 102 maybe or may include any networked computer-based infrastructure. Forexample, the enterprise facility 102 may be corporate, commercial,organizational, educational, governmental, or the like. As home networksget more complicated and include more compute instances at home and inthe cloud, an enterprise facility 102 may also or instead include apersonal network such as a home or a group of homes. The enterprisefacility's 102 computer network may be distributed amongst a pluralityof physical premises such as buildings on a campus and located in one orin a plurality of geographical locations. The configuration of theenterprise facility as shown is merely exemplary, and it will beunderstood that there may be any number of compute instances, less ormore of each type of compute instances, and other types of computeinstances. As shown, the exemplary enterprise facility includes afirewall 10, a wireless access point 11, an endpoint 9, a server 14, amobile device 16, an appliance or IOT device 18, a cloud computinginstance 19, and a server 20. Again, the compute instances 10-20depicted are exemplary, and there may be any number or types of computeinstances 10-20 in a given enterprise facility. For example, in additionto the elements depicted in the enterprise facility 102, there may beone or more gateways, bridges, wired networks, wireless networks,virtual private networks, other compute instances, and so on.

The threat management facility 100 may include certain facilities, suchas a policy management facility 112, security management facility 92,update facility 90, definitions facility 114, network access rulesfacility 94, remedial action facility 98, detection techniques facility130, application protection facility 150, asset classification facility160, entity model facility 162, event collection facility 164, eventlogging facility 166, analytics facility 168, dynamic policies facility170, identity management facility 172, and marketplace managementfacility 174, as well as other facilities. For example, there may be atesting facility, a threat research facility, and other facilities. Itshould be understood that the threat management facility 100 may beimplemented in whole or in part on a number of different computeinstances, with some parts of the threat management facility ondifferent compute instances in different locations. For example, some orall of one or more of the various facilities 100, 112-174 may beprovided as part of a security agent S that is included in softwarerunning on a compute instance 10-26 within the enterprise facility. Someor all of one or more of the facilities 100, 112-174 may be provided onthe same physical hardware or logical resource as a gateway, such as afirewall 10, or wireless access point 11. Some or all of one or more ofthe facilities may be provided on one or more cloud servers that areoperated by the enterprise or by a security service provider, such asthe cloud computing instance 109.

In embodiments, a marketplace provider 199 may make available one ormore additional facilities to the enterprise facility 102 via the threatmanagement facility 100. The marketplace provider may communicate withthe threat management facility 100 via the marketplace interfacefacility 174 to provide additional functionality or capabilities to thethreat management facility 100 and compute instances 10-26. Asnon-limiting examples, the marketplace provider 199 may be a third-partyinformation provider, such as a physical security event provider; themarketplace provider 199 may be a system provider, such as a humanresources system provider or a fraud detection system provider; themarketplace provider may be a specialized analytics provider; and so on.The marketplace provider 199, with appropriate permissions andauthorization, may receive and send events, observations, inferences,controls, convictions, policy violations, or other information to thethreat management facility. For example, the marketplace provider 199may subscribe to and receive certain events, and in response, based onthe received events and other events available to the marketplaceprovider 199, send inferences to the marketplace interface, and in turnto the analytics facility 168, which in turn may be used by the securitymanagement facility 92.

The identity provider 158 may be any remote identity management systemor the like configured to communicate with an identity managementfacility 172, e.g., to confirm identity of a user as well as provide orreceive other information about users that may be useful to protectagainst threats. In general, the identity provider may be any system orentity that creates, maintains, and manages identity information forprincipals while providing authentication services to relying partyapplications, e.g., within a federation or distributed network. Theidentity provider may, for example, offer user authentication as aservice, where other applications, such as web applications, outsourcethe user authentication step to a trusted identity provider.

In embodiments, the identity provider 158 may provide user identityinformation, such as multi-factor authentication, to a SaaS application.Centralized identity providers such as Microsoft Azure, may be used byan enterprise facility instead of maintaining separate identityinformation for each application or group of applications, and as acentralized point for integrating multifactor authentication. Inembodiments, the identity management facility 172 may communicatehygiene, or security risk information, to the identity provider 158. Theidentity management facility 172 may determine a risk score for a userbased on the events, observations, and inferences about that user andthe compute instances associated with the user. If a user is perceivedas risky, the identity management facility 172 can inform the identityprovider 158, and the identity provider 158 may take steps to addressthe potential risk, such as to confirm the identity of the user, confirmthat the user has approved the SaaS application access, remediate theuser's system, or such other steps as may be useful.

In embodiments, threat protection provided by the threat managementfacility 100 may extend beyond the network boundaries of the enterprisefacility 102 to include clients (or client facilities) such as anendpoint 22 outside the enterprise facility 102, a mobile device 26, acloud computing instance 109, or any other devices, services or the likethat use network connectivity not directly associated with or controlledby the enterprise facility 102, such as a mobile network, a public cloudnetwork, or a wireless network at a hotel or coffee shop. While threatsmay come from a variety of sources, such as from network threats,physical proximity threats, secondary location threats, the computeinstances 10-26 may be protected from threats even when a computeinstance 10-26 is not connected to the enterprise facility 102 network,such as when compute instances 22, 26 use a network that is outside ofthe enterprise facility 102 and separated from the enterprise facility102, e.g., by a gateway, a public network, and so forth.

In some implementations, compute instances 10-26 may communicate withcloud applications, such as a SaaS application 156. The SaaS application156 may be an application that is used by but not operated by theenterprise facility 102. Exemplary commercially available SaaSapplications 156 include Salesforce, Amazon Web Services (AWS)applications, Google Apps applications, Microsoft Office 365applications and so on. A given SaaS application 156 may communicatewith an identity provider 158 to verify user identity consistent withthe requirements of the enterprise facility 102. The compute instances10-26 may communicate with an unprotected server (not shown) such as aweb site or a third-party application through an internetwork 154 suchas the Internet or any other public network, private network, orcombination of these.

In embodiments, aspects of the threat management facility 100 may beprovided as a stand-alone solution. In other embodiments, aspects of thethreat management facility 100 may be integrated into a third-partyproduct. An application programming interface (e.g., a source codeinterface) may be provided such that aspects of the threat managementfacility 100 may be integrated into or used by or with otherapplications. For instance, the threat management facility 100 may bestand-alone in that it provides direct threat protection to anenterprise or computer resource, where protection is subscribed todirectly 100. Alternatively, the threat management facility may offerprotection indirectly, through a third-party product, where anenterprise may subscribe to services through the third-party product,and threat protection to the enterprise may be provided by the threatmanagement facility 100 through the third-party product.

The security management facility 92 may provide protection from avariety of threats by providing, as non-limiting examples, endpointsecurity and control, email security and control, web security andcontrol, reputation-based filtering, machine learning classification,control of unauthorized users, control of guest and non-compliantcomputers, and more.

The security management facility 92 may provide malicious codeprotection to a compute instance. The security management facility 92may include functionality to scan applications, files, and data formalicious code, remove or quarantine applications and files, preventcertain actions, perform remedial actions, as well as other securitymeasures. Scanning may use any of a variety of techniques, includingwithout limitation signatures, identities, classifiers, and othersuitable scanning techniques. In embodiments, the scanning may includescanning some or all files on a periodic basis, scanning an applicationwhen the application is executed, scanning data transmitted to or from adevice, scanning in response to predetermined actions or combinations ofactions, and so forth. The scanning of applications, files, and data maybe performed to detect known or unknown malicious code or unwantedapplications. Aspects of the malicious code protection may be provided,for example, in the security agent of an endpoint 9, in a wirelessaccess point 11 or firewall 10, as part of application protection 150provided by the cloud, and so on.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 92 may provide foremail security and control, for example to target spam, viruses,spyware, and phishing, to control email content, and the like. Emailsecurity and control may protect against inbound and outbound threats,protect email infrastructure, prevent data leakage, provide spamfiltering, and more. Aspects of the email security and control may beprovided, for example, in the security agent of an endpoint 9, in awireless access point 11 or firewall 10, as part of applicationprotection 150 provided by the cloud, and so on.

In an embodiment, security management facility 92 may provide for websecurity and control, for example, to detect or block viruses, spyware,malware, unwanted applications, help control web browsing, and the like,which may provide comprehensive web access control enabling safe,productive web browsing. Web security and control may provide Internetuse policies, reporting on suspect compute instances, security andcontent filtering, active monitoring of network traffic, URI filtering,and the like. Aspects of the web security and control may be provided,for example, in the security agent of an endpoint 9, in a wirelessaccess point 11 or firewall 10, as part of application protection 150provided by the cloud, and so on.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 92 may provide fornetwork access control, which generally controls access to and use ofnetwork connections. Network control may stop unauthorized, guest, ornon-compliant systems from accessing networks, and may control networktraffic that is not otherwise controlled at the client level. Inaddition, network access control may control access to virtual privatenetworks (VPN), where VPNs may, for example, include communicationsnetworks tunneled through other networks and establishing logicalconnections acting as virtual networks. In embodiments, a VPN may betreated in the same manner as a physical network. Aspects of networkaccess control may be provided, for example, in the security agent of anendpoint 9, in a wireless access point 11 or firewall 10, as part ofapplication protection 150 provided by the cloud, e.g., from the threatmanagement facility 100 or other network resource(s).

In an embodiment, the security management facility 92 may provide forhost intrusion prevention through behavioral monitoring and/or runtimemonitoring, which may guard against unknown threats by analyzingapplication behavior before or as an application runs. This may includemonitoring code behavior, application programming interface calls madeto libraries or to the operating system, or otherwise monitoringapplication activities. Monitored activities may include, for example,reading and writing to memory, reading and writing to disk, networkcommunication, process interaction, and so on. Behavior and runtimemonitoring may intervene if code is deemed to be acting in a manner thatis suspicious or malicious. Aspects of behavior and runtime monitoringmay be provided, for example, in the security agent of an endpoint 9, ina wireless access point 11 or firewall 10, as part of applicationprotection 150 provided by the cloud, and so on.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 92 may provide forreputation filtering, which may target or identify sources of knownmalware. For instance, reputation filtering may include lists of URIs ofknown sources of malware or known suspicious IP addresses, code authors,code signers, or domains, that when detected may invoke an action by thethreat management facility 100. Based on reputation, potential threatsources may be blocked, quarantined, restricted, monitored, or somecombination of these, before an exchange of data can be made. Aspects ofreputation filtering may be provided, for example, in the security agentof an endpoint 9, in a wireless access point 11 or firewall 10, as partof application protection 150 provided by the cloud, and so on. Inembodiments, some reputation information may be stored on a computeinstance 10-26, and other reputation data available through cloudlookups to an application protection lookup database, such as may beprovided by application protection 150.

In embodiments, information may be sent from the enterprise facility 102to a third party, such as a security vendor, or the like, which may leadto improved performance of the threat management facility 100. Ingeneral, feedback may be useful for any aspect of threat detection. Forexample, the types, times, and number of virus interactions that anenterprise facility 102 experiences may provide useful information forthe preventions of future virus threats. Feedback may also be associatedwith behaviors of individuals within the enterprise, such as beingassociated with most common violations of policy, network access,unauthorized application loading, unauthorized external device use, andthe like. In embodiments, feedback may enable the evaluation orprofiling of client actions that are violations of policy that mayprovide a predictive model for the improvement of enterprise policies.

An update management facility 90 may provide control over when updatesare performed. The updates may be automatically transmitted, manuallytransmitted, or some combination of these. Updates may include software,definitions, reputations or other code or data that may be useful to thevarious facilities. For example, the update facility 90 may managereceiving updates from a provider, distribution of updates to enterprisefacility 102 networks and compute instances, or the like. Inembodiments, updates may be provided to the enterprise facility's 102network, where one or more compute instances on the enterprisefacility's 102 network may distribute updates to other computeinstances.

The threat management facility 100 may include a policy managementfacility 112 that manages rules or policies for the enterprise facility102. Exemplary rules include access permissions associated withnetworks, applications, compute instances, users, content, data, and thelike. The policy management facility 112 may use a database, a textfile, other data store, or a combination to store policies. In anembodiment, a policy database may include a block list, a blacklist, anallowed list, a whitelist, and more. As a few non-limiting examples,policies may include a list of enterprise facility 102 external networklocations/applications that may or may not be accessed by computeinstances, a list of types/classifications of network locations orapplications that may or may not be accessed by compute instances, andcontextual rules to evaluate whether the lists apply. For example, theremay be a rule that does not permit access to sporting websites. When awebsite is requested by the client facility, a security managementfacility 92 may access the rules within a policy facility to determineif the requested access is related to a sporting website.

The policy management facility 112 may include access rules and policiesthat are distributed to maintain control of access by the computeinstances 10-26 to network resources. Exemplary policies may be definedfor an enterprise facility, application type, subset of applicationcapabilities, organization hierarchy, compute instance type, user type,network location, time of day, connection type, or any other suitabledefinition. Policies may be maintained through the threat managementfacility 100, in association with a third party, or the like. Forexample, a policy may restrict instant messaging (IM) activity bylimiting such activity to support personnel when communicating withcustomers. More generally, this may allow communication for departmentsas necessary or helpful for department functions, but may otherwisepreserve network bandwidth for other activities by restricting the useof IM to personnel that need access for a specific purpose. In anembodiment, the policy management facility 112 may be a stand-aloneapplication, may be part of the network server facility 142, may be partof the enterprise facility 102 network, may be part of the clientfacility, or any suitable combination of these.

The policy management facility 112 may include dynamic policies that usecontextual or other information to make security decisions. As describedherein, the dynamic policies facility 170 may generate policiesdynamically based on observations and inferences made by the analyticsfacility. The dynamic policies generated by the dynamic policy facility170 may be provided by the policy management facility 112 to thesecurity management facility 92 for enforcement.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may provideconfiguration management as an aspect of the policy management facility112, the security management facility 92, or some combination.Configuration management may define acceptable or requiredconfigurations for the compute instances 10-26, applications, operatingsystems, hardware, or other assets, and manage changes to theseconfigurations. Assessment of a configuration may be made againststandard configuration policies, detection of configuration changes,remediation of improper configurations, application of newconfigurations, and so on. An enterprise facility may have a set ofstandard configuration rules and policies for particular computeinstances which may represent a desired state of the compute instance.For example, on a given compute instance 9, 14, 18, a version of aclient firewall may be required to be running and installed. If therequired version is installed but in a disabled state, the policyviolation may prevent access to data or network resources. A remediationmay be to enable the firewall. In another example, a configurationpolicy may disallow the use of USB disks, and policy management 112 mayrequire a configuration that turns off USB drive access via a registrykey of a compute instance. Aspects of configuration management may beprovided, for example, in the security agent of an endpoint 9, in awireless access point 11 or firewall 10, as part of applicationprotection 150 provided by the cloud, or any combination of these.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may also provide forthe isolation or removal of certain applications that are not desired ormay interfere with the operation of a compute instance 10-26 or thethreat management facility 100, even if such application is not malwareper se. The operation of such products may be considered a configurationviolation. The removal of such products may be initiated automaticallywhenever such products are detected, or access to data and networkresources may be restricted when they are installed and running. In thecase where such applications are services which are provided indirectlythrough a third-party product, the applicable application or processesmay be suspended until action is taken to remove or disable thethird-party product.

The policy management facility 112 may also require update management(e.g., as provided by the update facility 90). Update management for thesecurity facility 92 and policy management facility 112 may be provideddirectly by the threat management facility 100, or, for example, by ahosted system. In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 mayalso provide for patch management, where a patch may be an update to anoperating system, an application, a system tool, or the like, where oneof the reasons for the patch is to reduce vulnerability to threats.

In embodiments, the security facility 92 and policy management facility112 may push information to the enterprise facility 102 network and/orthe compute instances 10-26, the enterprise facility 102 network and/orcompute instances 10-26 may pull information from the security facility92 and policy management facility 112, or there may be a combination ofpushing and pulling of information. For example, the enterprise facility102 network and/or compute instances 10-26 may pull update informationfrom the security facility 92 and policy management facility 112 via theupdate facility 90, an update request may be based on a time period, bya certain time, by a date, on demand, or the like. In another example,the security facility 92 and policy management facility 112 may push theinformation to the enterprise facility's 102 network and/or computeinstances 10-26 by providing notification that there are updatesavailable for download and/or transmitting the information. In anembodiment, the policy management facility 112 and the security facility92 may work in concert with the update management facility 90 to provideinformation to the enterprise facility's 102 network and/or computeinstances 10-26. In various embodiments, policy updates, securityupdates and other updates may be provided by the same or differentmodules, which may be the same or separate from a security agent runningon one of the compute instances 10-26.

As threats are identified and characterized, the definition facility 114of the threat management facility 100 may manage definitions used todetect and remediate threats. For example, identity definitions may beused for scanning files, applications, data streams, etc. for thedetermination of malicious code. Identity definitions may includeinstructions and data that can be parsed and acted upon for recognizingfeatures of known or potentially malicious code. Definitions also mayinclude, for example, code or data to be used in a classifier, such as aneural network or other classifier that may be trained using machinelearning. Updated code or data may be used by the classifier to classifythreats. In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 and thecompute instances 10-26 may be provided with new definitionsperiodically to include most recent threats. Updating of definitions maybe managed by the update facility 90, and may be performed upon requestfrom one of the compute instances 10-26, upon a push, or somecombination. Updates may be performed upon a time period, on demand froma device 10-26, upon determination of an important new definition or anumber of definitions, and so on.

A threat research facility (not shown) may provide a continuouslyongoing effort to maintain the threat protection capabilities of thethreat management facility 100 in light of continuous generation of newor evolved forms of malware. Threat research may be provided byresearchers and analysts working on known threats, in the form ofpolicies, definitions, remedial actions, and so on.

The security management facility 92 may scan an outgoing file and verifythat the outgoing file is permitted to be transmitted according topolicies. By checking outgoing files, the security management facility92 may be able discover threats that were not detected on one of thecompute instances 10-26, or policy violation, such transmittal ofinformation that should not be communicated unencrypted.

The threat management facility 100 may control access to the enterprisefacility 102 networks. A network access facility 94 may restrict accessto certain applications, networks, files, printers, servers, databases,and so on. In addition, the network access facility 94 may restrict useraccess under certain conditions, such as the user's location, usagehistory, need to know, job position, connection type, time of day,method of authentication, client-system configuration, or the like.Network access policies may be provided by the policy managementfacility 112, and may be developed by the enterprise facility 102, orpre-packaged by a supplier. Network access facility 94 may determine ifa given compute instance 10-22 should be granted access to a requestednetwork location, e.g., inside or outside of the enterprise facility102. Network access facility 94 may determine if a compute instance 22,26 such as a device outside the enterprise facility 102 may access theenterprise facility 102. For example, in some cases, the policies mayrequire that when certain policy violations are detected, certainnetwork access is denied. The network access facility 94 may communicateremedial actions that are necessary or helpful to bring a device backinto compliance with policy as described below with respect to theremedial action facility 98. Aspects of the network access facility 94may be provided, for example, in the security agent of the endpoint 9,in a wireless access point 11, in a firewall 10, as part of applicationprotection 150 provided by the cloud, and so on.

In an embodiment, the network access facility 94 may have access topolicies that include one or more of a block list, a blacklist, anallowed list, a whitelist, an unacceptable network site database, anacceptable network site database, a network site reputation database, orthe like of network access locations that may or may not be accessed bythe client facility. Additionally, the network access facility 94 mayuse rule evaluation to parse network access requests and apply policies.The network access rule facility 94 may have a generic set of policiesfor all compute instances, such as denying access to certain types ofwebsites, controlling instant messenger accesses, or the like. Ruleevaluation may include regular expression rule evaluation, or other ruleevaluation method(s) for interpreting the network access request andcomparing the interpretation to established rules for network access.Classifiers may be used, such as neural network classifiers or otherclassifiers that may be trained by machine learning.

The threat management facility 100 may include an asset classificationfacility 160. The asset classification facility will discover the assetspresent in the enterprise facility 102. A compute instance such as anyof the compute instances 10-26 described herein may be characterized asa stack of assets. The one level asset is an item of physical hardware.The compute instance may be, or may be implemented on physical hardware,and may have or may not have a hypervisor, or may be an asset managed bya hypervisor. The compute instance may have an operating system (e.g.,Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS). The compute instance may have oneor more layers of containers. The compute instance may have one or moreapplications, which may be native applications, e.g., for a physicalasset or virtual machine, or running in containers within a computingenvironment on a physical asset or virtual machine, and thoseapplications may link libraries or other code or the like, e.g., for auser interface, cryptography, communications, device drivers,mathematical or analytical functions and so forth. The stack may alsointeract with data. The stack may also or instead interact with users,and so users may be considered assets.

The threat management facility may include entity models 162. The entitymodels may be used, for example, to determine the events that aregenerated by assets. For example, some operating systems may provideuseful information for detecting or identifying events. For examples,operating systems may provide process and usage information thataccessed through an API. As another example, it may be possible toinstrument certain containers to monitor the activity of applicationsrunning on them. As another example, entity models for users may defineroles, groups, permitted activities and other attributes.

The event collection facility 164 may be used to collect events from anyof a wide variety of sensors that may provide relevant events from anasset, such as sensors on any of the compute instances 10-26, theapplication protection facility 150, a cloud computing instance 109 andso on. The events that may be collected may be determined by the entitymodels. There may be a variety of events collected. Events may include,for example, events generated by the enterprise facility 102 or thecompute instances 10-26, such as by monitoring streaming data through agateway such as firewall 10 and wireless access point 11, monitoringactivity of compute instances, monitoring stored files/data on thecompute instances 10-26 such as desktop computers, laptop computers,other mobile computing devices, and cloud computing instances 19, 109.Events may range in granularity. An exemplary event may be communicationof a specific packet over the network. Another exemplary event may beidentification of an application that is communicating over a network.

The event logging facility 166 may be used to store events collected bythe event collection facility 164. The event logging facility 166 maystore collected events so that they can be accessed and analyzed by theanalytics facility 168. Some events may be collected locally, and someevents may be communicated to an event store in a central location orcloud facility. Events may be logged in any suitable format.

Events collected by the event logging facility 166 may be used by theanalytics facility 168 to make inferences and observations about theevents. These observations and inferences may be used as part ofpolicies enforced by the security management facility Observations orinferences about events may also be logged by the event logging facility166.

When a threat or other policy violation is detected by the securitymanagement facility 92, the remedial action facility 98 may be used toremediate the threat. Remedial action may take a variety of forms,non-limiting examples including collecting additional data about thethreat, terminating or modifying an ongoing process or interaction,sending a warning to a user or administrator, downloading a data filewith commands, definitions, instructions, or the like to remediate thethreat, requesting additional information from the requesting device,such as the application that initiated the activity of interest,executing a program or application to remediate against a threat orviolation, increasing telemetry or recording interactions for subsequentevaluation, (continuing to) block requests to a particular networklocation or locations, scanning a requesting application or device,quarantine of a requesting application or the device, isolation of therequesting application or the device, deployment of a sandbox, blockingaccess to resources, e.g., a USB port, or other remedial actions. Moregenerally, the remedial action facility 92 may take any steps or deployany measures suitable for addressing a detection of a threat, potentialthreat, policy violation or other event, code or activity that mightcompromise security of a computing instance 10-26 or the enterprisefacility 102.

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a threat management system 201 such asany of the threat management systems described herein, and including acloud enterprise facility 280. The cloud enterprise facility 280 mayinclude servers 284, 286, and a firewall 282. The servers 284, 286 onthe cloud enterprise facility 280 may run one or more enterpriseapplications and make them available to the enterprise facilities 102compute instances 10-26. It should be understood that there may be anynumber of servers 284, 286 and firewalls 282, as well as other computeinstances in a given cloud enterprise facility 280. It also should beunderstood that a given enterprise facility may use both SaaSapplications 156 and cloud enterprise facilities 280, or, for example, aSaaS application 156 may be deployed on a cloud enterprise facility 280.As such, the configurations in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are shown by way ofexamples and not exclusive alternatives.

FIG. 3 shows a system 300 for enterprise network threat detection. Thesystem 300 may use any of the various tools and techniques for threatmanagement contemplated herein. In the system, a number of endpointssuch as the endpoint 302 may log events in a data recorder 304. A localagent on the endpoint 302 such as the security agent 306 may filter thisdata and feeds a filtered data stream to a threat management facility308 such as a central threat management facility or any of the otherthreat management facilities described herein. The threat managementfacility 308 can locally or globally tune filtering by local agentsbased on the current data stream and can query local event datarecorders for additional information where necessary or helpful inthreat detection or forensic analysis. The threat management facility308 may also or instead store and deploys a number of security toolssuch as a web-based user interface that is supported by machine learningmodels to aid in the identification and assessment of potential threatsby a human user. This may, for example, include machine learninganalysis of new code samples, models to provide human-readable contextfor evaluating potential threats, and any of the other tools ortechniques described herein. More generally, the threat managementfacility 308 may provide any of a variety of threat management tools 316to aid in the detection, evaluation, and remediation of threats orpotential threats.

The threat management facility 308 may perform a range of threatmanagement functions such as any of those described herein. The threatmanagement facility 308 may generally include an application programminginterface 310 to third party services 320, a user interface 312 foraccess to threat management and network administration functions, and anumber of threat detection tools 314.

In general, the application programming interface 310 may supportprogrammatic connections with third party services 320. The applicationprogramming interface 310 may, for example, connect to Active Directoryor other customer information about files, data storage, identities anduser profiles, roles, access privileges and so forth. More generally theapplication programming interface 310 may provide a programmaticinterface for customer or other third party context, information,administration and security tools, and so forth. The applicationprogramming interface 310 may also or instead provide a programmaticinterface for hosted applications, identity provider integration toolsor services, and so forth.

The user interface 312 may include a website or other graphicalinterface or the like, and may generally provide an interface for userinteraction with the threat management facility 308, e.g., for threatdetection, network administration, audit, configuration and so forth.This user interface 312 may generally facilitate human curation ofintermediate threats as contemplated herein, e.g., by presentingintermediate threats along with other supplemental information, andproviding controls for user to dispose of such intermediate threats asdesired, e.g., by permitting execution or access, by denying executionor access, or by engaging in remedial measures such as sandboxing,quarantining, vaccinating, and so forth.

The threat detection tools 314 may be any of the threat detection tools,algorithms, techniques or the like described herein, or any other toolsor the like useful for detecting threats or potential threats within anenterprise network. This may, for example, include signature basedtools, behavioral tools, machine learning models, and so forth. Ingeneral, the threat detection tools 314 may use event data provided byendpoints within the enterprise network, as well as any other availablecontext such as network activity, heartbeats, and so forth to detectmalicious software or potentially unsafe conditions for a network orendpoints connected to the network. In one aspect, the threat detectiontools 314 may usefully integrate event data from a number of endpoints(including, e.g., network components such as gateways, routers, andfirewalls) for improved threat detection in the context of complex ordistributed threats. The threat detection tools 314 may also or insteadinclude tools for reporting to a separate modeling and analysis platform318, e.g., to support further investigation of security issues, creationor refinement of threat detection models or algorithms, review andanalysis of security breaches, and so forth.

The threat management tools 316 may generally be used to manage orremediate threats to the enterprise network that have been identifiedwith the threat detection tools 314 or otherwise. Threat managementtools 316 may, for example, include tools for sandboxing, quarantining,removing, or otherwise remediating or managing malicious code ormalicious activity, e.g., using any of the techniques described herein.

The endpoint 302 may be any of the endpoints or other compute instancesor the like described herein. This may, for example, include end-usercomputing devices, mobile devices, firewalls, gateways, servers, routersand any other computing devices or instances that might connect to anenterprise network. As described above, the endpoint 302 may generallyinclude a security agent 306 that locally supports threat management onthe endpoint 302, such as by monitoring for malicious activity, managingsecurity components on the endpoint 302, maintaining policy compliance,and communicating with the threat management facility 308 to supportintegrated security protection as contemplated herein. The securityagent 306 may, for example, coordinate instrumentation of the endpoint302 to detect various event types involving various computing objects onthe endpoint 302, and supervise logging of events in a data recorder304. The security agent 306 may also or instead scan computing objectssuch as electronic communications or files, monitor behavior ofcomputing objects such as executables, and so forth. The security agent306 may, for example, apply signature-based or behavioral threatdetection techniques, machine learning models (e.g., models developed bythe modeling and analysis platform), or any other tools or the likesuitable for detecting malware or potential malware on the endpoint 302.

The data recorder 304 may log events occurring on or related to theendpoint. This may, for example, include events associated withcomputing objects on the endpoint 302 such as file manipulations,software installations, and so forth. This may also or instead includeactivities directed from the endpoint 302, such as requests for contentfrom Uniform Resource Locators or other network activity involvingremote resources. The data recorder 304 may record data at any frequencyand any level of granularity consistent with proper operation of theendpoint 302 in an intended or desired manner.

The endpoint 302 may include a filter 322 to manage a flow ofinformation from the data recorder 304 to a remote resource such as thethreat detection tools 314 of the threat management facility 308. Inthis manner, a detailed log of events may be maintained locally on eachendpoint, while network resources can be conserved for reporting of afiltered event stream that contains information believed to be mostrelevant to threat detection. The filter 322 may also or instead beconfigured to report causal information that causally relatescollections of events to one another. In general, the filter 322 may beconfigurable so that, for example, the threat management facility 308can increase or decrease the level of reporting based on a currentsecurity status of the endpoint, a group of endpoints, the enterprisenetwork, and the like. The level of reporting may also or instead bebased on currently available network and computing resources, or anyother appropriate context.

In another aspect, the endpoint 302 may include a query interface 324 sothat remote resources such as the threat management facility 308 canquery the data recorder 304 remotely for additional information. Thismay include a request for specific events, activity for specificcomputing objects, or events over a specific time frame, or somecombination of these. Thus, for example, the threat management facility308 may request all changes to the registry of system information forthe past forty eight hours, all files opened by system processes in thepast day, all network connections or network communications within thepast hour, or any other parametrized request for activities monitored bythe data recorder 304. In another aspect, the entire data log, or theentire log over some predetermined window of time, may be request forfurther analysis at a remote resource.

It will be appreciated that communications among third party services320, a threat management facility 308, and one or more endpoints such asthe endpoint 302 may be facilitated by using consistent namingconventions across products and machines. For example, the system 300may usefully implement globally unique device identifiers, useridentifiers, application identifiers, data identifiers, Uniform ResourceLocators, network flows, and files. The system may also or instead usetuples to uniquely identify communications or network connections basedon, e.g., source and destination addresses and so forth.

According to the foregoing, a system disclosed herein includes anenterprise network, and endpoint coupled to the enterprise network, anda threat management facility coupled in a communicating relationshipwith the endpoint and a plurality of other endpoints through theenterprise network. The endpoint may have a data recorder that stores anevent stream of event data for computing objects, a filter for creatinga filtered event stream with a subset of event data from the eventstream, and a query interface for receiving queries to the data recorderfrom a remote resource, the endpoint further including a local securityagent configured to detect malware on the endpoint based on event datastored by the data recorder, and further configured to communicate thefiltered event stream over the enterprise network. The threat managementfacility may be configured to receive the filtered event stream from theendpoint, detect malware on the endpoint based on the filtered eventstream, and remediate the endpoint when malware is detected, the threatmanagement facility further configured to modify security functionswithin the enterprise network based on a security state of the endpoint.

The threat management facility may be configured to adjust reporting ofevent data through the filter in response to a change in the filteredevent stream received from the endpoint. The threat management facilitymay be configured to adjust reporting of event data through the filterwhen the filtered event stream indicates a compromised security state ofthe endpoint. The threat management facility may be configured to adjustreporting of event data from one or more other endpoints in response toa change in the filtered event stream received from the endpoint. Thethreat management facility may be configured to adjust reporting ofevent data through the filter when the filtered event stream indicates acompromised security state of the endpoint. The threat managementfacility may be configured to request additional data from the datarecorder when the filtered event stream indicates a compromised securitystate of the endpoint. The threat management facility may be configuredto request additional data from the data recorder when a security agentof the endpoint reports a security compromise independently from thefiltered event stream. The threat management facility may be configuredto adjust handling of network traffic at a gateway to the enterprisenetwork in response to a predetermined change in the filtered eventstream. The threat management facility may include a machine learningmodel for identifying potentially malicious activity on the endpointbased on the filtered event stream. The threat management facility maybe configured to detect potentially malicious activity based on aplurality of filtered event streams from a plurality of endpoints. Thethreat management facility may be configured to detect malware on theendpoint based on the filtered event stream and additional context forthe endpoint.

The data recorder may record one or more events from a kernel driver.The data recorder may record at least one change to a registry of systemsettings for the endpoint. The endpoints may include a server, afirewall for the enterprise network, a gateway for the enterprisenetwork, or any combination of these. The endpoint may be coupled to theenterprise network through a virtual private network or a wirelessnetwork. The endpoint may be configured to periodically transmit asnapshot of aggregated, unfiltered data from the data recorder to thethreat management facility for remote storage. The data recorder may beconfigured to delete records in the data recorder corresponding to thesnapshot in order to free memory on the endpoint for additionalrecording.

FIG. 4 illustrates a threat management system. In general, the systemmay include an endpoint 402, a firewall 404, a server 406 and a threatmanagement facility 408 coupled to one another directly or indirectlythrough a data network 405, all as generally described above. Each ofthe entities depicted in FIG. 4 may, for example, be implemented on oneor more computing devices such as the computing device described herein.A number of systems may be distributed across these various componentsto support threat detection, such as a coloring system 410, a keymanagement system 412 and a heartbeat system 414, each of which mayinclude software components executing on any of the foregoing systemcomponents, and each of which may communicate with the threat managementfacility 408 and an endpoint threat detection agent 420 executing on theendpoint 402 to support improved threat detection and remediation.

The coloring system 410 may be used to label or color software objectsfor improved tracking and detection of potentially harmful activity. Thecoloring system 410 may, for example, label files, executables,processes, network communications, data sources and so forth with anysuitable information. A variety of techniques may be used to selectstatic and/or dynamic labels for any of these various software objects,and to manage the mechanics of applying and propagating coloringinformation as appropriate. For example, a process may inherit a colorfrom an application that launches the process. Similarly, a file mayinherit a color from a process when it is created or opened by aprocess, and/or a process may inherit a color from a file that theprocess has opened. More generally, any type of labeling, as well asrules for propagating, inheriting, changing, or otherwise manipulatingsuch labels, may be used by the coloring system 410 as contemplatedherein.

The key management system 412 may support management of keys for theendpoint 402 in order to selectively permit or prevent access to contenton the endpoint 402 on a file-specific basis, a process-specific basis,an application-specific basis, a user-specific basis, or any othersuitable basis in order to prevent data leakage, and in order to supportmore fine-grained and immediate control over access to content on theendpoint 402 when a security compromise is detected. Thus, for example,if a particular process executing on the endpoint is compromised, orpotentially compromised or otherwise under suspicion, keys to thatprocess may be revoked in order to prevent, e.g., data leakage or othermalicious activity.

The heartbeat system 414 may be used to provide periodic or aperiodicinformation from the endpoint 402 or other system components aboutsystem health, security, status, and so forth. A heartbeat may beencrypted or plaintext, or some combination of these, and may becommunicated unidirectionally (e.g., from the endpoint 408 to the threatmanagement facility 408) or bidirectionally (e.g., between the endpoint402 and the server 406, or any other pair of system components) on anyuseful schedule.

In general, these various monitoring and management systems maycooperate to provide improved threat detection and response. Forexample, the coloring system 410 may be used to evaluate when aparticular process is potentially opening inappropriate files based onan inconsistency or mismatch in colors, and a potential threat may beconfirmed based on an interrupted heartbeat from the heartbeat system414. The key management system 412 may then be deployed to revoke keysto the process so that no further files can be opened, deleted, orotherwise modified. More generally, the cooperation of these systemsenables a wide variety of reactive measures that can improve detectionand remediation of potential threats to an endpoint.

FIG. 5 shows a threat management facility in a zero trust network accessenvironment. In a zero trust network access environment for a system 101such as an enterprise network, an endpoint 144 may be separated from aprotected resource 214 such as an application or data store by a gateway210. In general, the gateway manages access to the protected resource214, and the threat management facility 100 provides security servicesfor the enterprise network as generally described herein.

In embodiments, a threat management facility 100 such as any of thosedescribed herein may be adapted, may be integrated with, or may operateas a component of a system/service that provides central control ofsecurity and operational features of a ZTNA deployment. Thus, a threatmanagement facility 100 may include a ZTNA-enabled threat managementfacility that manages endpoints and resources within a ZTNA environment.As described herein, this may include management of services such as animage generation service 204 for facilitating instantiation,registration, and/or configuration of a new ZTNA gateway for providingsecure access to a protected resource 214, such as an enterprisesoftware application, service, database, and the like. The threatmanagement facility 100 may, for example, include a configuration andpolicy service 208 that facilitates establishing system resourceconfiguration and security policies for the enterprise network. Otherservices may include a connection integrity service 206 for monitoringand optionally ensuring integrity of WebSocket-type connections in arange of deployments, including deployments in which WebSocket-typeconnections are routinely refreshed.

The threat management facility 100 may communicate with other elementsof a ZTNA threat management architecture through a network, such as anenterprise network, the Internet or the like. In one aspect, the threatmanagement facility 100 may instantiate a gateway 210 using the imagegeneration service 204 and provide polices and the like to manageoperation of the gateway 210 consistent with polices for the enterprisenetwork. The gateway 210, or portions thereof, may be instantiated forproviding secure access to a protected resource 214.

The gateway 210, as instantiated, may provide secure connectivity forclient devices, such as an endpoint 144, to a protected resource 214via, for example a WebSocket service 212 and a client access port, suchas a reverse proxy 218. The gateway 210 may facilitate establishing andmaintaining the connection with an endpoint-deployed local securityagent 252 adapted for operation in a ZTNA environment. Servicesoperating on the gateway 210 may participate in enterprise threatmanagement in addition to providing user/endpoint access to protectedresources. In general, a ZTNA environment relies on authentication ofendpoints 144 on a resource-by-resource basis. To this end, the system101 may include an identity provider 216 that supports, e.g., secure,credential-based authentication of entities within the zero trustnetwork environment.

The threat management facility 100 may include one or more of an imagegeneration service 204, a configuration and policy service 208, or aconnection integrity service 206. Each of these services are describedfurther herein. Each of these services, individually or in anycombination, may be provided by a computing system of the threatmanagement facility 100, which may be physically hosted by anenterprise, hosted in a cloud-based computing environment, or somecombination of these, and may be available to administrators and otherusers through a web server interface or the like. In one aspect,services used by the threat management facility 100 may also be deployedas protected resources within the zero trust network environment, e.g.,as applications served in a cloud-based environment within a ZTNAarchitecture. These services may perform one or more functions that aredescribed below while taking advantage of the security benefits of botha zero trust network environment and a threat management facility 100.As an example, a connection integrity service 206 may rely on theconfiguration and policy service 208 for connection integrity conditionsand remediation actions (e.g., connection time-out limits and the like).

The threat management facility 100 may further be constructed withand/or provide access to various data storage facilities, such as agateway image data store 220 of gateway instantiation/update datastructures. A gateway registration storage facility 222 (or optionallyan extension of the image data store 220) may store gateway-specificconfiguration and/or registration images or portions thereof that may beused by an instantiated gateway 210 for threat management configuration,registration as a ZTNA gateway, and the like. Exemplary threatmanagement functions that may be imposed on a gateway through use of animage from the gateway registration storage facility 222 may includeautomatic loading of preconfigured threat management policies andregistration of the gateway 210 with the threat management facility 100as a component of an enterprise network management platform. As anexample, a mountable image in the gateway registration storage facility222 may be accessed by a newly instantiated gateway 210. Thisregistration storage facility 222 may also be used to store mountableimage templates, gateway registration/configuration setup scripts, rules(e.g., registration rules, gateway mountable image generation rules andthe like) as well as prior revisions of gateway instantiation-specificconfigurations and the like that may be used by, for example, the imagegeneration service 204. In embodiments, the image generation service 204may include or have access to a user interface (not depicted) throughwhich gateway images may be specified, configured, maintained, accessed,and managed by a user, such as an administrator and the like.Optionally, the image generation service 204 may provide access to userinterface screens, templates, workflows, and the like for use by a userinterface of the threat management facility 100 for gateway imagespecification, maintenance, and the like.

In one aspect, the threat management facility 100 may include and/orprovide access to data structures for managing connection integrity,such as the connection data storage facility 224. This facility 224 mayinclude one or more lists/tables of connections between users/endpoints144 and protected resources 214. The connection data storage facility224 may also or instead include one or more of lists/tables ofdisconnections. In embodiments, the connection integrity service 206 maymaintain the data in this storage facility 224 (e.g., the exemplaryconnection and disconnection lists) for managing and/or monitoring theintegrity of connections between end users and protected resources. Inan example, data representative of a connection established through aWebSocket service of the ZTNA architecture may be stored in theconnection data storage facility 224 as one or more entries in aconnection and/or disconnection list. Other types of data that may bestored in the connection data storage facility 224 may includeconnection histories, connection integrity rules, policies, algorithms,and the like.

In embodiments, the connection integrity service 206 may interface withthe connection integrity data storage facility 224. While depicted inFIG. 5 as elements of the threat management facility 100, either or bothconnection integrity elements may be provided through one or moreservices or network resources that are external to the threat managementfacility 100. As an example, the connection integrity service 206 may bea first protected resource and the connection integrity data storagefacility 224 may be a second protected resource of a ZTNA architecture.Further, it is contemplated that various combinations of integrated andexternal elements of the threat management facility 100 can be embodied,such as an integrated connection integrity service 206 and a remotelyaccessible connection integrity data storage facility 224.

Further embodiments of the connection integrity data storage facility224, the connection integrity service 206 and uses thereof are describedelsewhere herein.

Regarding the image generation service 204, before a gateway can beregistered for providing secure connection services and/or threatmanagement services, the gateway must be configured and instantiated. Ina high-level example of gateway configuration, an administrator mayinterface with the threat management facility 100 and enter/selectdetails of the gateway. These details may include, without limitation agateway name, a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), certificates, a OneTime Password (OTP), identity providers to use for authentication, andthe like. Depending on the deployment platform (e.g., VMWare, HyperV,AWS, Azure, GCP, and the like), the image generation service 204 may beconfigured to generate a deployment-formatted image. Example imageformats include: OVF format for VMware or Hyper V; Terraform template toAWS, Azure or GCP; and the like. The administrator can direct deliveryof a configured image to the corresponding deployment platform forinstalling an instance of the gateway. Details of gateway configuration,image generation, instantiation, mountable image generation, automatedregistration, and the like, along with additional features, embodiments,and uses of the image generation service 204 and the connectionintegrity service 206 are described for exemplary embodiments elsewhereherein.

The threat management facility 100 may also provide a range ofadministrative services including configuring gateways, managingprotected resources, configuring identity providers, monitoring ZTNAappliances, notifications, reporting (e.g., user, application, device),user management and the like. These and other administrative servicesmay be performed and/or managed through one or more user interfacesprovided by threat management facility 100. An exemplary service is aconfiguration and policy service 208. Major architecture elements that aconfiguration and policy service may handle for a ZTNA solution includeidentity providers 216, gateways 210, policy objects, and applicationdefinitions and policies. In embodiments, configuration of identityproviders may be based on enterprise policies. While use of a singleidentity provider 216 is supported by the methods and systems herein,using multiple identity providers, such as for partners, contractors,different parts of an enterprise and the like is also supported. Aconfiguration and policy service 208 may handle multiple identityprovider configurations. In an example where support for multipleidentity providers may be beneficial, an enterprise may have acquiredanother enterprise that uses a different identity provider. In anotherexample the acquired enterprise may use the same provider, but may havedifferent configurations and policies for the identify provider.

A configuration and policy service 208 may facilitate adding a gatewayby providing data structures that define application-to-frontendsecurity, threat management policy, and related configuration details(e.g., default parameter values, static parameters, and the like). Aconfiguration and policy service 208 may utilize policy objects, such asreusable objects in application policy rules. Exemplary policy objectsinclude at least two types of policy objects; lists and expressions. Inembodiments, lists can be used to store sequences of values, whereasexpressions can store more complicated sequences of conditions to beevaluated. Other aspects of configuration and policy may includeapplication details of the protected resource, such as FQDN and/or IPaddress, port numbers, protocols, and an identifier of a gateway throughwhich the application is to be accessed. As an example, applicationpolicy may include details of constraints under which access to anapplication (e.g., protected resource 214) is allowed/denied. Theseconstraints could be based on several variables associated with anattempt at accessing the protected resource including identity of a userattempting the access, groups that the user belongs to, device type orOS through which the user is making the access attempt, device postureinformation including security/health status, and the like.

In embodiments, a gateway 210 may be adapted with features that providesupport for managing threat management for an enterprise system deployedwithin a ZTNA architecture. As the data plane element in ZTNA solutions,the gateway 210 handles traffic destined for protected resources 214while facilitating user authentication for connecting to the resource(typically an application) as well as applying policies for authorizingsuch requests. The gateway 210 may also be adapted for operation in amanaged enterprise network environment that provides centralized threatmanagement. In embodiments, the gateway 210 may receive configuration,policy, threat management, and enterprise network management data from acontrol plane element, such as threat management facility 100.

The gateway 210 may be configured with a reverse proxy 218, a WebSocketservice 212, a control plane interface 230, a cloud agent 234, a LDAPsync agent 236, an update agent 240, a user portal 238, a web admin userinterface 240, and other features.

In embodiments, a reverse proxy 218 is the primary point of entry intothe gateway 210 for traffic that accesses and/or interacts with theprotected resource 214. The reverse proxy 218 provides, among otherthings, virtual host definitions for the protected resource 214 whileacting as a proxy for traffic destined for the protectedresource/application 214. In embodiments, a reverse proxy can provide asecure HTTPS connection terminus for applications, such as applicationsthat support only HTTP. The reverse proxy 218 may further coordinatewith authentication and authorization services to facilitateauthenticating users as well as verifying if a request for access isallowed based on access and/or security policies associated with theprotected resource 214.

In embodiments, a WebSocket service 212 may provide support for, amongother things, TCP/UDP/ICMP traffic applications (like SSH, RDP, SNMP,Ping etc.). The WebSocket service 212 may also support browser-basedapplication access to protected resources 214. An agent-basedinteraction with an agent operating on an endpoint may be provided fromthe gateway 210. In agent-based cases, the endpoint agent, such as alocal security agent 252 on the endpoint 144 may establish a tunnelinterface with the WebSocket service 212 of the gateway 210 so thattraffic for the protected resource 214 can be sent over an encryptedWebSocket channel. In an example, on the gateway, the reverse proxy 218may allow the WebSocket traffic to flow to the WebSocket server 212 ifthe user has been authenticated. The WebSocket server 212 may applyfurther authorization checks to see if the user is permitted access tothe protected resource 214.

Other gateway 210 services and elements may include an LDAP sync agent236 that ensures that identity information is maintained throughout thearchitecture for use by hosted identity services, such as ActiveDirectory or LDAP, and the like. In embodiments, the LDAP sync agent 236may periodically fetch relevant identity information so that allrelevant instantiated elements (e.g., the control plane and the like)can have the changes that were made since the previous sync.

In embodiments, a cloud agent module 234 may be responsible for gettingthe latest configuration from the administrative entity, such as threatmanagement facility 100 as well as sending logging, reporting, andmonitoring data. Upon receiving configuration data, the cloud agentmodule 234 may store configuration data and send notifications for allinterested modules to reload the stored configuration data. The cloudagent module 234 may also be responsible for translating policydefinitions to various query languages, such as to a Rego policylanguage.

The gateway 210 may be configured with a control plane service 230.Whenever a new protected resource 214 is added by the administrator or,for example, the security material (e.g., certificate and/or private keydata) for the gateway 210 is changed, the gateway 210 would need toreload the configuration. Similarly, changes in application policy wouldrequire a reload of policy data. The control plane service 230 supportsrefreshing configuration and policy for a gateway 210 through anexternal service, such as an Application Programming Interface (API). Arefresh may be based on a scheduled poll for changes, or any otherperiodic or other scheduled or ad hoc basis. The control plane service230 may support refresh including a poll-based refresh. In embodiments,the control plan service 230 may facilitate interfacing with a ZTNAcentral controller, such as threat management facility 100 as describedherein by implementing interfaces such as remote procedure call (e.g.,gRPC), representational state transfer (e.g., REST) and the like.

Another gateway element is a user portal 238. In embodiments, the userportal is a web-based console where an authenticated user can browseaccessible protected resources 214 as well as access them usingbookmarks. The user portal module 238 may include user interface assetsto render, for example user portal web pages as well as support backendfunctionality to provide access to the protected resources 214.

Yet another of the gateway elements in a ZTNA architecture adapted tosupport enterprise network threat management is a web administrator userinterface 240. In embodiments, an administration user interface 240 mayexpose important metrics related to the gateway 210 as well astroubleshooting interfaces useful to an administrator or the like forinvestigating network usage, error messages, log files, and the like.The user interface 240 may be exposed through a web server, such as onethat serves HTML/JS/CSS resources.

Protected resources 214 may be accessed through an endpoint, such as theendpoint 144 described herein. A local security agent 152 that may bedeployed on an endpoint is also described herein. When configured forproviding threat management in a ZTNA architecture, the local securityagent 152 may be adapted to communicate with a corresponding gateway210. In addition to threat and network management functions of a localsecurity agent 152 that are described elsewhere herein, a ZTNA adaptedlocal security agent 252 may communicate device posture (e.g., securityand threat-related status of the endpoint, and the like) continuouslywith the gateway 210. This posture may be used for compliance withauthorization policies of the enterprise network and/or the zero trustnetwork environment.

For legacy endpoint-executed applications 228 that may be accessingprotected resources 214, such as data structures and the like, the ZTNAadapted local security agent 252 may handle both ZTNA compliance andon-endpoint application interfacing. As an example, such an agent mayintercept application network-bound traffic of the application 228 andcoordinate transfer of that traffic over a secure channel that itestablished between the endpoint 144 and the gateway 210 rather thanallowing the network-bound traffic to be delivered directly over thenetwork from the application 228. Return traffic from the protectedresource 214 may be communicated over the established secure channel tothe agent 252 where it is converted to application-specific form anddelivered to the application 228 executing on the endpoint 144.

Basic forms of a ZTNA architecture can be operated without an endpointagent, such as for web browser-based applications (e.g., web serverexecuted applications and the like that interface with the endpointthrough the browser 226) because a secure channel can be establishedbetween a web browser 226 and the gateway 210 using SSL and other typesof secure tunneling. However, lack of a local agent, such as an adaptedlocal security agent 252, may limit the extent of threat management thatcan be performed on the endpoint 144 in a ZTNA architecture. Therefore,a ZTNA adapted local security agent 252 may be configured to providethreat and network management services (e.g., comparable to those of alocal security agent 152) for the endpoint independent of the type ofclient software being used on the endpoint. In embodiments, the endpoint144 may be adapted, such as through execution of a local security agent252 that is adapted for use in zero trust environments to monitor and/orensure enterprise threat management for both agentless (e.g., webbrowser like) and agent-based (e.g., native app-based) access toprotected resources 214.

FIG. 6 shows a method for cloud management of connectivity for edgenetworking devices. In general, certain edge networking devices such asapplication gateways may report status to a cloud-based threatmanagement platform using a persistent network connection between thegateway and the cloud platform. The threat management platform mayutilize such a persistent network connection to facilitate threat policyconfiguration, enforcement, and remediation. Therefore, awareness ofconnection status and behaviors may impact how a threat managementplatform operates. Where a cloud computing platform for an edgenetworking device or the treat management platform imposes periodictimeouts, the threat management platform may monitor connects anddisconnects for edge devices and asynchronously evaluate connectionstatus of edge devices independently of a heartbeat or other signalthrough the persistent connection in order to distinguish connectiontimeouts imposed by, for example, the cloud computing platform fromnetworking devices that are compromised or malfunctioning.

As shown in step 602, the method 600 may include detecting a connectionof an edge networking device to a security resource hosted on a cloudcomputing platform such as a cloud-based threat management facility foran enterprise network. For example, this may include detecting aconnection to a threat management facility for an enterprise network byan application gateway for one or more applications associated with theenterprise network, or a connection with the threat management facilityby any other edge networking device or other managed device such as afirewall or the like managed by the threat management facility accordingto security policies for the enterprise network. In embodiments,detecting a connection and/or disconnection may be based onnotifications exchanged among the devices and platforms participating inpersistent connections. In one aspect, the notifications of eachconnection (and disconnection, below) may be provided through anapplication programming interface (API) or other signaling medium for acloud computing platform that hosts the threat management facility forthe enterprise network, or any other suitable host platform mechanism orthe like. In another aspect, the edge networking device may be hosted ona second cloud computing platform independent from the cloud computingplatform hosting the threat management facility, such that the threatmanagement facility receives notifications about connections through anAPI for the second cloud computing platform. In embodiments, apersistent connection as described herein may include a WebSocketconnection. Further a persistent connection may be established between athreat management facility and a zero trust network access (ZTNA)gateway using, for example a WebSocket connection.

As shown in step 604, the method 600 may include, e.g., in response todetecting a connection, storing connection information for theconnection of the edge networking device in a memory associated with thethreat management facility, such as a data tables 605 in a database orother data store for the threat management facility. The connectioninformation may include any information useful for distinguishingexpected disconnections (e.g., those due to expected timeouts) fromunexpected disconnections or timeout) as described herein. For example,the connection information may include a name or other identifier forthe connected device, an identifier of a cloud computing platformhosting the connected device, and a time stamp for a time of creation ofthe connection as assigned by the cloud computing platform in an eventnotification or other notification, message, or the like generated whenthe connection is created. In embodiments, the time stamp may be basedon a time of receipt of the event notification, such as at the threatmanagement facility.

As shown in step 606, the method 600 may include detecting adisconnection of the edge networking device from the threat managementfacility. For example, this may include detecting a disconnection of anapplication gateway for one or more applications associated with anenterprise network from a threat management facility for the enterprisenetwork, or a disconnection of any other edge networking device or othermanaged device such as a firewall or the like managed by the threatmanagement facility according to security policies for the enterprisenetwork. In one aspect, the notifications of each disconnection may beprovided through an application programming interface or other signalingmedium for a cloud computing platform that hosts the threat managementfacility, or any other signaling medium or programming interface for thecloud computing platform that hosts the threat management facility.

As shown in step 608, the method 600 may include, e.g., in response todetecting the disconnection, storing disconnection information for thedisconnection of the edge networking device in a memory associated withthe threat management facility, such as the data tables 605 noted above,or any other local or remote data store used by the threat managementfacility. In general, connect information and disconnect information maybe stored in separate data tables (e.g., a connect data table and adisconnect data table), or in a single data table, or in any other datastructure and/or memory suitable for access by a threat managementfacility for the purposes described herein. In a single data tableexample, an entry for each connected device may include a connectiontime stamp field that is populated with the connection creation time anda disconnection time stamp field that may be populated with a time ofdisconnection. The disconnection information may include any informationuseful for distinguishing disconnections (e.g., those due to expectedtimeouts) from unexpected disconnections (e.g., independent of thesource of the disconnection being due to a form of timeout) as describedherein. For example, the disconnection information may include the nameor other identifier for the disconnected device, along with a secondtime stamp for a time of the disconnection as assigned by the cloudcomputing platform in an event notification or other notification,message, or the like generated when the connection is created. Ingeneral detection of connections and disconnections, along with theassociated storage of connection information and disconnectioninformation, may occur any number of times for any number of differentedge networking devices. Thus, while a single flow of steps is shown,steps 602 through 608 may be performed any number of times, in sequenceor in parallel, as various devices connect to and disconnect from thethreat management facility for purposes of centralized management.

As shown in step 610, the method 600 may include analyzing disconnectiondata. More generally, this may include analyzing disconnections byapplying one or more rules to the connection information anddisconnection information stored in the data tables 605. This analysismay be used to distinguish whether a particular disconnection identifiedin the data tables 605 occurred according to a connection reset rule forthe cloud computing platform that hosts the edge networking device(e.g., a connection reset rule that specifies a maximum duration for aconnection), or occurred for some other reason. As noted above, a cloudplatform may enforce periodic timeouts on virtualized devices, e.g., toensure that abandoned or malfunctioning devices are not retained inperpetuity, at the expense of available computing resources. The data inthe data tables 605 may catalogue connections to and disconnections froma threat management facility in a manner that permits asynchronous,rule-based identification of different types of disconnects, such asdisconnects that are initiated by a cloud-based host platform enforcingperiodic timeouts and other types of disconnects that may requireintervention or remediation.

For example, disconnections in the data table 605 may be analyzed,either periodically or on an ad hoc (e.g., user-initiated) basis bycomparing the time of disconnection to a current system time. Thisinclude determining a disconnection duration for the named device. Ifthe disconnection occurred according to a connection reset rule for thecloud computing platform or is otherwise consistent withplatform-imposed reset behavior, the method 600 may include waiting forthe connection to reset and returning to step 610 where additionaldisconnection entries can be analyzed. More specifically, if thedisconnection duration is currently shorter than a reset interval forreestablishing the disconnected connection with the cloud platform(e.g., where a duration of time from when the cloud computing platformresets the connection to when it is reestablished is less than onesecond, the disconnection may be identified as potentially consistentwith a cloud platform connection reset rule, and analysis may return tostep 610 where the disconnection data in the data tables 605 isanalyzed. In this context, it will be understood that the actual resetinterval, and/or the corresponding permissible disconnection intervalmay be longer (e.g., five seconds) or shorter (e.g., 100 milliseconds)than one second, based on, e.g., the behavior or rules of the cloudplatform, the need for continuous connectivity for an application orresource, and so forth. On the other hand, if the disconnection durationis greater than the reset interval, a potential problem may be flaggedsuch that action is required in step 612 and the method 600 may proceedto step 614 where any suitable action is taken. Analyzing thedisconnection data may include comparing a disconnect duration with acloud platform-specific reset interval selected based on, for example,an identifier of a cloud platform contained in the disconnectinformation, or any other information about the cloud platform or othercontext.

A variety of additional techniques may also or instead be used toanalyze timeouts/disconnects. The method 600 may include waiting for theconnection to reset by determining a maximum allowable reset intervalfor the cloud computing platform from which the edge device has beendisconnected and checking connection information in the data table 605at a time that is proximal to the end of the maximum allowable resetinterval for the connection to indicate that it has been reestablished.The method 600 may include starting a timer representative of the amountof time remaining in the reset interval and using the expiration of thattimer as a trigger to analyze connection data in the data tables for arenewal of the disconnected connection occurring prior to the timerexpiring. The method 600 may include, responsive to processing adisconnection entry in the data tables 605, checking for a correspondingconnection entry in the data tables 605 (e.g., a connection thatidentifies the same edge device, cloud computing platform, and/orconnection name as found in the information stored when thedisconnection is detected). If such a connection entry is found, thetime stamp may be compared to a time stamp for the disconnection entrybeing processed to determine if the connection entry occurred after thedisconnection, thereby providing evidence of a reconnection, which mayinclude a reset connection. In this case, the data table(s) 605 may beupdated to consolidate these entries into a single, current connection.If a duration of time between the time in the disconnect record and thetime in the corresponding subsequent connection record is less than acloud platform-specific reset interval for the cloud platform associatedwith the connection, optionally with an additional reconnect durationtime buffer, the disconnection may be identified as expected. However,if the duration of time between the time in the disconnect record andthe time in the corresponding subsequent connection record is greaterthan the cloud platform-specific reset interval, or some multiple thereof (e.g., 1.2 times), the disconnect may be flagged as potentiallyunexpected, with any suitable notifications, alerts, or automaticactions initiated in response thereto.

The data tables 605 may be adjusted based on established connections,disconnections, and relationships therebetween using the disconnectanalyses described here. When, for example, a disconnect notification ismatched to a subsequent connect notification that complies with a cloudplatform reset interval condition or rule, the disconnectnotification/entry in the data tables 605 can be deleted and a stateentry for the named device can be updated in the connect table, or a newconnection entry can be create in place of the existing entries for aconnection. The method for cloud management of connectivity for edgenetworking devices may include executing a process, routine or the likethat periodically updates the data tables 605 by applying thecorresponding rules, for example by removing entries in the table (e.g.,connect and/or disconnect entries) of named devices for which disconnectanalysis indicates the duration of disconnect exceeds a disconnectthreshold for a cloud platform or the like. The process may also orinstead determine if a connection duration in the connection table hasexceeded a connection duration reset timeout for the cloud platform withwhich the connection is made (or some other connection threshold basedon security policy and the like) and flag the connection as unexpectedlydisconnected, thereby indicating a condition of a compute instance, orthe connection created by the compute instance, that requiresintervention such as restarting, malware scanning, requests for manualuser or administrator intervention, or other remediation or the like. Inone aspect, a connection may exceed a connection duration reset timeoutif the connection between a cloud-based platform and the threatmanagement facility fails to properly reset (e.g., if thedisconnect/reset notification from the cloud-based platform does notreach the threat management facility, such as due to a network failureor the like). In such a situation, the connection entry in the datatable 605 may be deleted, flagged as invalid, or otherwise annotated toinform further disconnect analysis of the detected potential problemwith the connection.

Other conditions may require action as indicated in step 612. Forexample, where a total duration of the connection, as measured based onthe time stamp of a connection and the current system time, isapproaching a duration of a connection timeout interval for a cloudplatform (e.g., a maximum connection time after which the connection isexpected to be reset by the cloud platform), the threat managementfacility may initiate a reset of the connection (or an explicitdisconnect followed by the creation of a new connection) in step 614before the cloud platform resets the connection. In another aspect,where a disconnection did not occur according to a connection reset rulefor the cloud computing platform (e.g., based on the disconnectionanalysis described herein or some other disconnection indicator), actionmay be required as indicated in step 612, and the method may includeremediating the gateway as indicated in step 614.

In general, the analysis in step 610 may be performed asynchronouslyfrom steps 602 through 608. That is, the analysis in step 610 may beperformed on data currently stored in the data tables 605 (or other datastore) based on any suitable schedule and independently from thedetection of connections/disconnections and storage of related eventdata.

As shown in step 614, the method 600 may include remediating the edgenetworking device, such as by relaunching the edge networking device orchecking the edge networking device for malware. By way of example, thismay include remediating an application gateway that disconnected outsidecloud computing platform reset parameters (e.g., based on the disconnectinformation analysis described herein) by restarting or relaunching theedge networking device or by fixing a network issue. In another aspect,this may include performing security operations on an applicationgateway or other device such as performing an antimalware scan,attempting to obtain a heartbeat or other security information from alocal security agent on the device, retrieving data from a data recorderor other event log on the device, and so forth. As another examplesuggested above, the threat management facility may reset the connectionprior to a maximum duration for the connection specified by the cloudcomputing platform. Similarly, the threat management facility mayterminate an existing connection and start a new connection for thedevice, or terminate and relaunch the device, in order to create a newconnection before the previous connection is terminated or reset by thecloud computing platform (e.g., based on the cloud computing platformconnection timeout interval). In one aspect, one or more responses to afailed connection (that did not result from a cloud platform connectiontimeout) may be automatically initiated, e.g., by the threat managementfacility. In another aspect, an alert may be generated to anadministrator who may, in turn, investigate and manually take correctiveaction as appropriate.

Step 614 may also or instead include updating data in the data tables605 under certain conditions. For example, if a disconnection isfollowed by a reconnection while waiting for the connection to reset asdescribed above, the method 600 may include removing the disconnectioninformation from the data table, tagging the disconnection informationas obsolete, archiving the disconnection information, and the like. Moregenerally, if the disconnection is followed by a second connection of anedge networking device to the threat management facility, the method 600may include removing the disconnection information from the data table605 or other memory, for example based on a determination that thedisconnect-connect sequence complies with a cloud platform-specificreset interval or is otherwise acceptable. Still more generally, otheractions to remediate or interact with an edge networking device and/orupdate data in the data tables 605 may be taken consistent with thedisclosure herein.

According to the foregoing, in one aspect there is disclosed herein asystem including an endpoint in a zero trust network access environment,a zero trust application for the endpoint, a gateway for connecting theendpoint to access the zero trust application, an identity providersupporting authentication of the endpoint for use of the zero trustapplication, and a threat management facility for an enterprise network,and a threat management facility. The gateway may be hosted on a firstcloud computing platform. The threat management facility may be hostedon a second cloud computing platform independent from the first cloudcomputing platform. The threat management facility may include aprocessor and memory storing computer executable instructions thatconfigure the threat management facility to perform the steps of:detecting a connection of the gateway to the threat management facility;storing connection information for the connection of the gateway in adata store associated with the threat management facility; detecting adisconnection of the gateway; storing disconnection information for thedisconnection of the gateway in the data store associated with thethreat management facility; asynchronously analyzing the disconnectionto determine if the disconnection occurred according to a connectionreset rule for the second cloud computing platform hosting the threatmanagement facility by applying one or more rules to the connectioninformation and the disconnection information stored in the data store;if the disconnection occurred according to the connection reset rule forthe second cloud computing platform, waiting for the connection toreset; and if the disconnection did not occur according to theconnection reset rule for the cloud computing platform, remediating theedge networking device.

FIG. 7 shows a method for managing a gateway in a zero trustenvironment. A virtualized gateway for applications in a zero trustnetwork access environment may be managed from a cloud-based threatmanagement facility for an enterprise network. In order to facilitatecreation of a new, centrally managed gateway, a one-time passcode forregistration of the gateway to the threat management facility may beencoded onto a virtual disk and distributed to a host platform alongwith a base gateway image for the gateway. This advantageously permitsthe new gateway to boot and securely register with the threat managementfacility without further administrative intervention.

As shown in step 702, a method 700 for deploying a centrally managedgateway for zero trust network access may include receiving a requestfrom an administrator for an enterprise network to configure a manageddevice for the enterprise network. The managed device may be any manageddevice, such as an application gateway that supports zero trust networkaccess to one or more applications for the enterprise network or someother gateway for zero trust network applications, services, databases,and so forth. In one aspect, the managed device may be another networkdevice for the enterprise network such as a firewall, a wireless accesspoint, a switch, and so forth.

The request may be received, e.g., at a threat management facility thatmanages security for the enterprise network, such as through anadministrative console or other user interface or programmatic interfacefor the threat management facility. The threat management facility maybe hosted on the physical premises of the enterprise network, on a cloudcomputing platform, or some combination of these. Similarly, the manageddevice may be hosted on the physical premises of the enterprise networkor the managed device may be a virtualized device hosted in a cloudcomputing platform, which may be the cloud computing platform that hoststhe threat management facility or a second cloud computing environment.Thus, in one aspect, the threat management facility may be hosted on afirst cloud computing platform that is different than (i.e.,independently operated from) a second cloud computing platform thathosts the managed device.

As shown in step 704, the method 700 may include receiving a base imagefor the managed device. The base image may generally include a bootableimage of the managed device configured for use with a boot device. Thebase image may, for example, be licensed from one or more third partiesfor use in the enterprise network, and may include an operating systemand/or any other applications or other code to provide at least aportion of the functionality of the managed device. In one aspect, thethreat management facility (or a data repository for or accessible bythe threat management facility) may include a number of base images suchas base images for different managed devices and, for each manageddevice, a base image for each physical or virtual platform on which themanaged device may be deployed. Thus, for example if an enterprise usesthree different cloud computing platforms from different vendors, thethreat management facility may store three different correspondingversions of the base image. The base image may be received, e.g., byautomatically retrieving the base image to a location accessible to therequesting administrator, or by providing a link for the administratorto access and download an instance of the base image for use inlaunching the managed device. In general, the boot device may be aphysical device, or a virtual device, e.g., hosted by a cloud platformprovider. In the latter case, the base image may be provided in anysuitable virtualization format used by the cloud platform provider.

As shown in step 706, the method 700 may include retrievingconfiguration information for the managed device. In one aspect, thismay include receiving configuration information from an administratorthrough an administrative console for the threat management facility.This may, for example, include a client identifier for the manageddevice (e.g., as a credential for a user of the managed device).Configuration information may also include information for using themanaged device with the enterprise network such as local area networkconfiguration, wide area network configuration, and domain name serviceinformation. Other configuration information useful for deploying themanaged device in an enterprise network may include a name for themanaged device and/or a fully qualified domain name for the manageddevice. Security information may also be included in the configurationinformation such as a certificate for the managed device and a privatekey for the managed device. Additionally, policy information may beincluded in the configuration information, although this information mayalso or instead be provided when the managed device registers with thethreat management facility.

As shown in step 708, the method 700 may include retrieving credentialsfor the managed device. In particular, this may usefully includeretrieving a one-time passcode for the client identifier, such as byretrieving the one-time passcode from an identity management platform.In general, the identity management platform may be any platform forsecurely managing user identities in a manner consistent with securityof the enterprise network and the use of a zero trust network accessarchitecture. This may, for example, include a third party identitymanagement platform that is securely accessible through a data network,or this may include a third party identity management platform hosted bythe enterprise network, either at the threat management facility or someother location on the physical premises of the enterprise network or ona cloud computing platform. The one-time passcode may be anyalphanumeric or other string that is valid for a single login session ortransaction. More specifically in this case, the one-time passcode maybe a login credential useable with the client identifier for a singlelogin by the managed device to the threat management facility during aregistration of the managed device to the threat management facility.Use of the one-time passcode during registration of the managed deviceto the threat management facility may be time limited such that anattempt at a first use of the one-time passcode after a time limit foruse of the passcode may result in failure of registration.

As shown in step 710, the method 700 may include creating a supplementaldrive image for the managed device. The supplemental drive image mayinclude configuration information and the one-time passcode forregistering the managed device. In general, the base image may beconfigured to boot using data from a second drive. By mounting thesupplemental drive image as the second drive, the base image may be usedto boot a virtual (or physical) device, and may use configurationinformation from the supplemental drive image when booting.

Thus, a standard or universal base image may be customized for each newinstance by using the supplemental drive image to provide custom orunique configuration information. In general, the supplemental driveimage may provide startup files, batch files, scripts, or any other codeor the like suitable for executing instructions, providing statevariables, and so forth for configuration the virtual deviceinstantiated from the base image. Other techniques may also or insteadbe used, for example, where a cloud computing platform provides aspecific tool, programming interface, or protocol for configuring newinstances of a virtual device from a base image, provided thecredentials and one-time passcode can be passed from an identitymanagement platform for the enterprise network to the cloud computingplatform for use in registering a new device with the threat managementfacility when launching.

As shown in step 712, the method 700 may include providing the baseimage and the supplemental drive image to an administrator for theenterprise network. This may include providing a link to downloadablefiles for the base image and the supplemental drive image. By way ofnon-limiting example, the base image may be distributed as an OpenVirtual Appliance (OVA) package containing an archive file such as a tararchive file with an Open Virtualization Format directory inside. TheOVA package conforms to an open standard, and may be used to instantiateand boot a virtual device on a virtualization platform such as VMWareESX or Microsoft HyperV. The supplemental drive image may be provided asan ISO image containing data structured as a duplicate of the data as itwould be formatted on an optical disk. The ISO image can be copied to avirtual CDROM drive or the like on the virtual device and be used forconfiguration of the virtual device when it boots from the OVA. Inembodiments, the ISO image may be formatted based on a type ofvirtualization platform and/or cloud computing platform on which thevirtual device is to be hosted.

Providing the images may include an automation of one or more of thefollowing steps in order to continue with the creation, launch, andregistration of the virtualized device without further userintervention. For example, providing the base image and the supplementaldrive image to the administrator may include automatically loading thebase image to a virtualized boot device and loading the supplementaldrive image onto a virtualized drive for the virtualized boot device.

As shown in step 714, the method 700 may include receiving the baseimage and the supplemental drive image. This may, for example, includedownloading the images using a link in an administrative console, acommand line file transfer, or any other technique.

As shown in step 716, the method 700 may include loading the base imageand the supplemental drive image on to a boot device such as a physicaldevice hosted on the premises for the enterprise network a virtualizeddevice hosted on a cloud computing platform for the enterprise network.In one aspect, the images may be automatically loaded onto a virtualdevice for the administrator after the initial request, with requiringan explicit, additional receiving step such as step 714.

As shown in step 718, the method 700 may include booting a boot devicefor the managed device from the base image. This boot may be manuallyinitiated by the administrator, or this boot may be automaticallyinitiated in response to a preceding step by the administrator such asrequesting the new device or loading the images onto a host. In general,the base image may include a startup instruction to obtain configurationinformation or other startup data or instructions from a separate drivesuch as a physical or virtual CD-ROM drive, more specifically, the drivecontaining the supplemental drive image. The data stored in thesupplemental drive image may cause a managed device booted from the baseimage to responsively register with the threat management facility usingthe client identifier and the one time pass code from the identitymanagement platform.

As shown in step 720, the method 700 may include receiving aregistration request for the managed device at the threat managementfacility. In general, this request is separate from the initial requestby the administrator to provision the managed device. However, in oneaspect, the second request may automatically be initiated, e.g., by thethreat management facility, in response to the initial request by theadministrator to provision the managed device.

As shown in step 722, the method 700 may include responsivelyauthenticating the managed device with the identity management platformusing the one-time passcode and, with the successful authenticationusing the credentials (client identifier and one-time passcode),registering the managed device with the threat management facility. Inone aspect, one or more of these registration steps may be automaticallyperformed in response to the initial request by the administrator forthe managed device. Thus, in one aspect the method 700 may includeautomatically authenticating the client identifier with an identitymanagement platform using the one time pass code and, in response to asuccessful authentication with the identity management platform,automatically registering the managed device with the threat managementfacility. Other steps consistent with registration of the managed devicemay also or instead be performed in response to a successfulauthentication. For example, in one aspect an access token and refreshtoken may be generated for authenticating a managed device forcommunication with cloud platforms hosting the threat managementfacility and/or the managed device.

An example of managed device registration process as described hereinmay include: booting the gateway via the base image, wherein the baseimage includes functionality to mount and access a second drive;executing a registration function on the gateway booted from the baseimage that accesses a client identifier and a one-time passcode, amongother things on the mounted second drive and requests authentication tothe threat management facility using at least the accessed clientidentifier and one-time passcode; validating the authentication requestat the threat management facility and providing information to thegateway, such as: (i) a locations (e.g., URL) of a zero trust networkarchitecture Proxy and a ZTNA push notification server (e.g., URL),where the respective locations may be based on a region associated withthe client identifier; and (ii) a temporary code/token for accessing theZTNA Proxy URL that encodes a customer identifier, the clientidentifier, code expiration conditions, and a scope (e.g., for theZTNA); sending a temporary token from the gateway in a message thatincludes its assigned client identifier and IP address to the ZTNAProxy; validating the code with the ZTNA proxy, such as by checking asignature of the code against a cached public key and notifying thethreat management facility of the newly established gateway foronboarding; and accepting the newly established gateway at the threatmanagement facility either automatically or through an action by anadministrator (e.g., to accept service requests), after which thegateway can begin operation as a managed device, such as by requestingand accepting services that may be managed by the threat managementfacility according to a security policy and the like.

According to the foregoing, there is disclosed herein a system includingan identity management platform supporting authentication in a zerotrust network environment and a threat management facility for anenterprise network, the threat management facility hosted on a cloudcomputing platform and the threat management facility including aprocessor and memory storing computer executable instructions. Thecomputer executable instructions may configure the threat managementfacility to perform the steps of: receiving a request from anadministrator for the enterprise network to configure a managed devicethat supports zero trust network access to one or more applications forthe enterprise network; retrieving a base image for the managed device,the base image including a bootable, unconfigured image of the manageddevice; retrieving configuration information for the gateway from thethreat management facility, the configuration information including aclient identifier for the managed device; retrieving a one-time passcodefor the client identifier from the identity management platform;creating a supplemental drive image for the managed device, thesupplemental drive image including the configuration information and theone-time passcode for the managed device, wherein the base image isconfigured to boot using data from a drive that contains thesupplemental drive image; and providing the base image and thesupplemental drive image to the administrator.

FIG. 8 shows an administrative console for adding an application gatewayfor an enterprise network. In general, the administrative console mayprovide a user interface 800 for adding an application gateway or othermanaged device. The user interface 800 may include fields for inputtingconfiguration information used to customize or otherwise configure themanaged device. For example, the user interface 800 may include fieldsfor entry of a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), an applicationdomain, and whether the domain uses a static or dynamic (from DHCP) IPaddress. The user interface 800 may also provide fields for entry of aWide Area Network IP address, along with a subnet mask and a defaultgateway. Other information, such as whether Local Area Network IPaddresses are dynamic or static, and authentication information such asa certificate and/or private key for the gateway, may also be provided.In one aspect, a user configuring the managed device may be asked tomanually enter all address and configuration information. In anotheraspect, some or all of the data may be automatically provided, or a usermay be assisted in completing the information, e.g., by providing toplevel domain name information, drop down lists for available information(e.g., suggested addresses/names, automatically generatedcertificates/keys, and so forth), or other automated assistance inproviding configuration information. In general, the user interface 800may be hosted by the threat management facility or any other suitableserver or the like, and may be presented to a user using anycorresponding web technologies or the like.

The above systems, devices, methods, processes, and the like may berealized in hardware, software, or any combination of these suitable fora specific application. The hardware may include a general-purposecomputer and/or dedicated computing device. This includes realization inone or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embeddedmicrocontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or otherprogrammable devices or processing circuitry, along with internal and/orexternal memory. This may also, or instead, include one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits, programmable gate arrays,programmable array logic components, or any other device or devices thatmay be configured to process electronic signals. It will further beappreciated that a realization of the processes or devices describedabove may include computer-executable code created using a structuredprogramming language such as C, an object oriented programming languagesuch as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language(including assembly languages, hardware description languages, anddatabase programming languages and technologies) that may be stored,compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well asheterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, orcombinations of different hardware and software. In another aspect, themethods may be embodied in systems that perform the steps thereof, andmay be distributed across devices in a number of ways. At the same time,processing may be distributed across devices such as the various systemsdescribed above, or all of the functionality may be integrated into adedicated, standalone device or other hardware. In another aspect, meansfor performing the steps associated with the processes described abovemay include any of the hardware and/or software described above. Allsuch permutations and combinations are intended to fall within the scopeof the present disclosure.

Embodiments disclosed herein may include computer program productscomprising computer-executable code or computer-usable code that, whenexecuting on one or more computing devices, performs any and/or all ofthe steps thereof. The code may be stored in a non-transitory fashion ina computer memory, which may be a memory from which the program executes(such as random-access memory associated with a processor), or a storagedevice such as a disk drive, flash memory or any other optical,electromagnetic, magnetic, infrared, or other device or combination ofdevices. In another aspect, any of the systems and methods describedabove may be embodied in any suitable transmission or propagation mediumcarrying computer-executable code and/or any inputs or outputs fromsame.

The method steps of the implementations described herein are intended toinclude any suitable method of causing such method steps to beperformed, consistent with the patentability of the following claims,unless a different meaning is expressly provided or otherwise clear fromthe context. So, for example, performing the step of X includes anysuitable method for causing another party such as a remote user, aremote processing resource (e.g., a server or cloud computer) or amachine to perform the step of X. Similarly, performing steps X, Y and Zmay include any method of directing or controlling any combination ofsuch other individuals or resources to perform steps X, Y and Z toobtain the benefit of such steps. Thus, method steps of theimplementations described herein are intended to include any suitablemethod of causing one or more other parties or entities to perform thesteps, consistent with the patentability of the following claims, unlessa different meaning is expressly provided or otherwise clear from thecontext. Such parties or entities need not be under the direction orcontrol of any other party or entity and need not be located within aparticular jurisdiction.

It should further be appreciated that the methods above are provided byway of example. Absent an explicit indication to the contrary, thedisclosed steps may be modified, supplemented, omitted, and/orre-ordered without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Numerousvariations, additions, omissions, and other modifications will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, the order orpresentation of method steps in the description and drawings above isnot intended to require this order of performing the recited stepsunless a particular order is expressly required or otherwise clear fromthe context. Thus, while particular embodiments have been shown anddescribed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications in form and details may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of this disclosure and are intendedto form a part of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer program product comprising computer executable code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps of: detecting a connection of an application gateway for one or more applications associated with an enterprise network to a threat management facility for the enterprise network by receiving a notification of the connection from a cloud computing platform that hosts the threat management facility; storing connection information for the connection of the application gateway in a connect data table associated with the threat management facility, the connection information including a time stamp for a time of creation of the connection; detecting a disconnection of the application gateway from the threat management facility; storing disconnection information for the disconnection of the application gateway in a disconnect data table associated with the threat management facility, the disconnection information including a second time stamp for a second time of the disconnection; asynchronously analyzing the connection and disconnection to determine if the disconnection occurred according to a connection reset rule for the cloud computing platform hosting the threat management facility by applying one or more rules to the connection information stored in the connect data table and the disconnection information stored in the disconnect data table; if the disconnection occurred according to the connection reset rule for the cloud computing platform, waiting for the connection to reset; and if the disconnection did not occur according to the connection reset rule for the cloud computing platform, remediating the application gateway.
 2. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein remediating the application gateway includes restarting the application gateway.
 3. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein, if the disconnection is followed by a reconnection while waiting for the connection to reset, removing the disconnection information from the disconnect data table.
 4. A system comprising: an endpoint in a zero trust network access environment; a zero trust application for the endpoint; a gateway for connecting the endpoint to access the zero trust application, the gateway hosted on a first cloud computing platform; an identity provider supporting authentication of the endpoint for use of the zero trust application; and a threat management facility for an enterprise network, the threat management facility hosted on a second cloud computing platform independent from the first cloud computing platform and the threat management facility including a processor and memory storing computer executable instructions that configure the threat management facility to perform the steps of: detecting a connection of the gateway to the threat management facility; storing connection information for the connection of the gateway in a data store associated with the threat management facility; detecting a disconnection of the gateway; storing disconnection information for the disconnection of the gateway in the data store associated with the threat management facility; asynchronously analyzing the disconnection to determine if the disconnection occurred according to a connection reset rule for the second cloud computing platform hosting the threat management facility by applying one or more rules to the connection information and the disconnection information stored in the data store; if the disconnection occurred according to the connection reset rule for the second cloud computing platform, waiting for the connection to reset; and if the disconnection did not occur according to the connection reset rule for the second cloud computing platform, remediating the gateway.
 5. A method comprising: detecting a connection of an edge networking device to a threat management facility hosted for an enterprise network on a cloud computing platform; storing connection information for the connection of the edge networking device in a memory associated with the threat management facility; detecting a disconnection of the edge networking device; storing disconnection information for the disconnection of the edge networking device in the memory associated with the threat management facility; asynchronously analyzing the disconnection to determine if the disconnection occurred according to a connection reset rule for the cloud computing platform hosting the threat management facility by applying one or more rules to the connection information and the disconnection information stored in the memory; if the disconnection occurred according to the connection reset rule for the cloud computing platform, waiting for the connection to reset; and if the disconnection did not occur according to the connection reset rule for the cloud computing platform, remediating the edge networking device.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the edge networking device is hosted on a second cloud computing platform independent of the cloud computing platform hosting the threat management facility.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein the edge networking device is hosted in an on-premises data center for the enterprise network.
 8. The method of claim 5 wherein the edge networking device includes an application gateway for one or more applications associated with the enterprise network.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the threat management facility manages a security policy for use of the one or more applications by users associated with the enterprise network.
 10. The method of claim 5 wherein the edge networking device includes a firewall for the enterprise network.
 11. The method of claim 5 wherein the connection information includes a time stamp for a time of creation of the connection.
 12. The method of claim 5 wherein detecting the connection includes receiving an event notification relating to the connection from the cloud computing platform.
 13. The method of claim 5 wherein the disconnection information includes a time stamp for a time of disconnection by the edge networking device.
 14. The method of claim 5 wherein detecting the disconnection includes receiving an event notification relating to the disconnection from the cloud computing platform.
 15. The method of claim 5 wherein, if the disconnection is followed by a second connection of the edge networking device, removing the disconnection information from the memory.
 16. The method of claim 5 wherein the connection reset rule specifies a maximum duration for the connection.
 17. The method of claim 5 wherein the cloud computing platform resets the connection in less than one second.
 18. The method of claim 5 wherein the threat management facility resets the connection prior to a maximum duration for the connection specified by the cloud computing platform.
 19. The method of claim 5 wherein remediating the edge networking device includes relaunching the edge networking device.
 20. The method of claim 5 wherein remediating the edge networking device includes repairing a network issue associated with connectivity of the edge networking device.
 21. The method of claim 5 wherein remediating the edge networking device includes checking the edge networking device for malware. 